exploit kits

For any sized organization, securing data and networks today is a daunting task. New vulnerabilities are discovered almost daily; new malware strains are developed as soon as a detection script is written for the old ones; and cybercriminals can buy prepackaged exploit kits on the Darknet backed by professional support teams. As a security analyst, you need more than a few point solutions designed to defend the network’s edge. You need visibility, perspective and an innate sense of when things just don’t seem right.

Attacks have many phases. Before launching, the attacker needs to stage internet infrastructure to support each phase. Two early phases are to redirect or link to a malicious web domain or send a malicious email attachment. For the former, most attacks leverage exploit kits (e.g. Angler) as the first stage before dropping the final payload. Cisco Umbrella effectively blocks initial exploit and phishing domains. Unlike appliances, our cloud security platform protects devices both on and off the corporate network. Unlike agents, the DNS layer protection extends to every device connected to the network — even IoT. Umbrella truly is the easiest and fastest layer of security to deploy everywhere. Download today to find out more.

What is ransomware? Ransomware is a malicious software designed to hold a user’s files (such as healthcare records, financial contracts, manufacturing blueprints, software code, and other documents) for ransom by encrypting them and demanding the user pay a fee (often in Bitcoin) to decrypt them. How ransomware works Attackers initiate attacks using an array of tactics. Ransomware infections often first begin with an exploit kit — which are software kits designed to identify software vulnerabilities on endpoints and then upload and execute malicious code on the endpoint. Although variants of ransomware behave differently — there are many ways that Cisco can help. Download this whitepaper today to find out more.

Exploits are one of the main techniques used by cybercriminals to spread malware. They take advantage of weaknesses in legitimate software products like Flash and Microsoft Office to infect computers for their criminal ends. A single exploit can be used by myriad separate pieces of malware, all with different payloads. Read this paper to learn more about exploits and how to stop them. We’ll explore how exploits work, the exploit industry overall, what makes a good exploit in the eyes of the cybercriminals, and also how anti-exploit technology is a highly efficient and effective way to secure your organization against advanced and unknown threats.

Exploit kits, which first became popular in 2006, are used to automate the exploitation of vulnerabilities on victims’ machines, most commonly while users are browsing the web. Over the past decade they have become an extremely popular means for criminal groups to distribute mass malware or remote access tools (RAT), because they lower the barrier to entry for attackers and can enable opportunistic attacks at scale. To understand this phenomenon, we must understand the ecosystem that surrounds exploit kits, including the actors, campaigns and terminology involved.

"Nothing kills attacks earlier than DNS-layer security. Protection both before and during the attack Attacks have many phases. Before launching, the attacker needs to stage internet infrastructure to support each phase. Two early phases are to redirect or link to a malicious web domain or send a malicious email attachment. For the former, most attacks leverage exploit kits (e.g. Angler) as the first stage before dropping the final payload. Cisco Umbrella effectively blocks initial exploit and phishing domains.

The current era in cyber security is characterized by three fundamental challenges: the complexity of the enterprise network and connected infrastructure, the speed of newage attacks, and the strain of overwhelmed incident responders. In many ways, the expansion of networks and continual adoption of new technologies - from cloud services to the Internet of Things - has expanded the attack surface and introduced new entry-points through which attackers can gain a foothold. This, combined with the ready availability of exploit kits on the Dark Web, has led to the ‘vicious circle of the SOC’, where incident responders are so busy fire-fighting that they rarely have time to implement the critical patches that would prevent the problem at source. As security teams struggle to keep up with the rising volume of routine attacks, a new generation of cyberthreat has also emerged, characterized in large part by fast-moving threats that make an impact well before humans have time to respond. Thes

Exploit Kits: Cybercrime's Growth Industry - Cybercriminals have turned their attention away from exploiting Windows operating systems to pursuing the popular third-party applications installed on nearly every PC around the world. That is why patch management has become a critical layer in your malware defense.